President’s Report
Bret Bordner
President
We are only weeks away from the conference, and I am pleased to say that once we finalize a few items on the agenda, we are ready to go. We are seeing record numbers, which should make for an exciting event. If you have not already registered, you should do so before the rates go up after March 7th.
If you have volunteered to present at this year’s conference, you will be receiving — or have already received — an email from our Harvester program with details and presentation uploading guidelines. If you have not received this by the end of the week, please let me know, and I will get the information to you. Please make sure you follow the instructions to upload your presentation as soon as possible. If you have any questions, you can contact me directly.
As mentioned in past newsletters, we have a great lineup of keynote speakers for this year, many hands-on sessions, Materialise training and SME’s Additive Manufacturing Certification Program. It took the efforts of many individuals to pull this agenda together, but I’m sure that you will agree that it was worth it. Both the Materialise and SME programs require pre-registration — details are below.
We will be holding elections for board positions in the afternoon of Wednesday, April 9th, during the business meeting. If you are interested in running for a position, make sure that you check with your superiors to make sure they are willing to support the commitment it takes. Details are covered later in this newsletter.
All the best,
Bret Bordner
AMUG President
president@am-ug.com
Our Mission: Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) educates and advances the uses and applications of additive manufacturing technologies.
Vice President’s Report
Derek Ellis
Vice President
Wow … I just looked at the calendar and we are less than two months away from meeting in Tucson! The action-packed agenda is on the website for your review. I have taken a look and marked 24 keynotes and breakout sessions that I would like to attend!
Along with the new exhibitor features mentioned in the last newsletter, we are welcoming all of our AMUGexpo exhibitors to promote new products or features that will be on display. We will incorporate these announcements on the AMUG website and in the newsletter prior to the conference. This will provide more exposure for your company and help drive the attendees to stop by your booth to see what you have to offer. If you haven’t reserved your exhibit space, please do so ASAP because we are running out of room!
As of right now, this year’s conference will be the highest attended in conference history. Your board has listened to what our attendees had to say regarding content for the conference, and the proof comes in the form of numbers of registrants as attendees, exhibitors and sponsors. Don’t miss out; reserve your space now to be part of this captive audience.
See you in Tucson,
Derek Ellis
VicePresident@am-ug.com
Sponsor News – Stratasys
Objet500 Connex3 Packs Color and Diverse Materials into One Build
A new 3D printer from Stratasys creates ultra-realistic prototypes with a range of vibrant colors plus rubber-like, clear and specialty materials. Released at SolidWorks World, the Objet500 Connex3 builds on previous Connex capabilities by accepting as many as three base resins at once from the range of PolyJet photopolymers. These resins blend inside the 3D printer to produce hundreds of brilliant, repeatable, opaque colors from true jet black to sunny yellow to shocking magenta, plus stained-glass-like translucent tints.
The Connex3 promises versatility for high-demand prototyping. Complex multi-material, multi-color models print quickly, and diverse prototypes such as flexible, rigid and clear can all print on one tray.
See specs, color palettes and more example parts at Stratasys.com.
Technical Competition
Gary Rabinovitz
Past President
As we near mid-February, submissions are starting to come in for the 2014 AMUG Technical Competition. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions in regards to this competition.
Visit the competition’s page for all of the details and registration forms.
The Technical Competition has two categories: Advanced Concepts and Advanced Finishing. The Advanced Concepts category recognizes exemplary work that “pushes the envelope.” The Advanced Finishing category recognizes the efforts of those that bring a part to life.
All entries will be displayed at the conference’s AMUGexpo and will be judged by a panel of five “DINOs,” AMUG honorees that are expert users who graciously contribute to the member community. Winners will be announced during the conference (April 6 – 10, Tucson, AZ) at the Award Banquet gala.
To be eligible, a company representative must be a registered attendee for the 2014 AMUG Conference. Please get your submissions in ASAP so that we can plan the event accordingly.
2014 awards to be presented to winners of the Technical Competition
Gary Rabinovitz
PastPresident@am-ug.com
Share Your AM Experience
ENGINEERING.com
Are you interested in sharing your AM experience with the world? If so, I’d love to hear it.
As a writer for ENGINEERING.com, I’ve been reporting on 3D printing for the last two years. Over that time, I’ve heard some inspiring stories describing how AM has changed the design process for a number of companies and even led to the creation of better products.
And that is part of the reason why I’ll be attending the AMUG conference this April. While at the conference, I’ll be looking forward to being a part of the information exchange, but I’m also there to turn your story into an article that can educate, inform and inspire people about AM’s abilities.
If you’re interested in participating, give me a shout at the conference. If you’re eager to tell your story now, shoot me an email (kyle.maxey@engineering.com), I’d love hear how AM has changed the way you do business!
Kyle Maxey
Secretary’s Report
Kim Killoran
Secretary
We’ve passed the 250-attendee mark , and over 100 of them are new to AMUG! We expect this year’s total registration to be approximately 500 people. Rest assured, with this level of participation, there will be many chances to meet new people, gain insight and network.
If you haven’t done so already, register soon! The early registration fee of $695 will expire on March 7, 2014, when the fee increases to $795. Remember, you’ll need to register for the conference and reserve your hotel room; these are two separate action items.
Kim Killoran
Secretary@am-ug.com
The Sorovetz Report
Tom Sorovetz
Event Manager
By the time you read this, we will be less than eight weeks away from zero hour. Eight weeks may seem like a long time, but if you have not already made your hotel reservation, please do so quickly because the hotel is filling up fast, and there is another group starting to arrive on Wednesday, April 9, making it difficult to add more rooms to our room block. If you already made your hotel reservations and did not receive the $137.00 per night rate, please send me an e-mail with your confirmation number so I can have the issue resolved.
For those of you who are interested in golfing on Saturday and/or skeet and trap shooting on Sunday, please sign up soon because I need a solid head count for transportation. Both events will cost $125.00, which includes transportation.
One of the vendors this year is SolidThinking (www.solidthinking.com), and they are asking you to bring an .stl file or two to run through their software. They will be showcasing their software, Inspire, which is a concept generation tool that allows engineers to quickly create and investigate structurally efficient concepts. Inspire enhances the product development process by generating a new material layout within a package space using the loads as an input. If you are interested in giving it a try on your own design, bring a file to the conference.
For those of you who will be attending AMUG for the first time, Derek Ellis, vice president, will be gathering all first timers on Sunday prior to the AMUGexpo. So please inquire about time and location when you are getting your badge at registration.
As a reminder, the Tuesday night Awards banquet can be an inside, outside (or both) venue so please dress appropriately. I would suggest something comfortable like jeans and tennis shoes because we are always in a casual environment.
Hope to see you in sunny Tucson, AZ,
Thomas A. Sorovetz
Event Manager
